Glenwood the latest site for medical marijuana dispensary

GLENWOOD SPRINGS – Following the latest business trend of medical marijuana dispensaries cropping up around Colorado, Glenwood’s very first dispensary was set to open for business Wednesday.

Peaceful Warrior Medical Marijuana, operated by Jesse Lafayette, is located at 216 Sixth St., just north of the Grand Avenue bridge.

“We were looking at two different locations, and this one seemed to work best for us and for the city,” Lafayette said.

“The city has been a completely comforting and welcoming entity to deal with,” he said. “We also talked to the neighbors around us here, and they were enthusiastic and gave us a lot of support.”

The Peaceful Warrior is just the latest in a string of medical marijuana dispensaries that have opened locally in recent months, including one in Carbondale, one in Basalt and two in Aspen.

Many operators were awaiting a July decision by the Colorado health board, which rejected a proposed rule that dispensaries could serve no more than five patients.

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“We felt that Glenwood would be the best place for us to start,” said Lafayette, who said he recently relocated here from Breckenridge with his wife and two children.

“We won’t be growing here, and we won’t keep any inventory overnight,” he said. Still, the location has a high-tech security system that covers every point of entry, he said.

One unique feature Peaceful Warrior will offer is that it will set up cameras at its grow operation and allow authorized patients to watch their plants grow via the Internet.

“That way people know exactly what’s going on with their plant,” Lafayette said.

He said they were already scheduled to see about 15 patients on Wednesday, but they will only offer a limited number of slots.

“There are only so many [patients] we can grow for,” Lafayette said. “Also, one of our biggest objectives is to involve local individuals who make holistic healing medicines, and allow them to advertise for free in our stores.”

In addition, Peaceful Warrior will carry informational materials about the healing nature of medical marijuana and Colorado’s laws allowing doctor-authorized patients to use marijuana.

Under Colorado’s medical marijuana law, approved by voters as Amendment 20 in 2000, patients with certain conditions such as chronic pain or muscle spasms related to multiple sclerosis and other conditions can use medical marijuana, as long as they get a doctor’s approval and register with the state.

The law permits patients or their designated caregivers to grow up to six marijuana plants or possess 2 ounces of usable marijuana.